Building Castles in the Sky
by kitkaht
Summary: Giovanni had built a castle in the sky. He had made something that would forever be out of his reach, and it would always be his fault for making it so that it was. Father/son gen.


Pokeanon Kink Meme. Prompt of "Silver growing up Rocket." Pg. 38

This has been gathering dust on my computer for a couple months, so I figured enough pussyfooting around here it is. The scene with Ariana in this one is different than the one on the meme. Also this one is wordier cuz I can't leave well enough alone. The original ending has been preserved by popular demand.

And I know that only Ariana and Archer are confirmed admins in FRLG's Team Rocket but I wanted to include the others so yeah, they're there. I also am of the 'Giovanni is a heartless bastard' camp, but this is more of a 'Giovanni is a well intentioned extremist' camp since it was in there for bonus points.

Not that there are any excuses for this slice of cliche pie.

* * *

><p>"<em>People need love, even when they don't deserve it"<em>

-Nikki Ledbetter

Giovanni vividly remembered, and likely always would, the first time he held his son. How much of that was attributed to his above average memory and how much was due to the importance of the event itself, he did not know. The infant he had held looked like every other baby Giovanni had ever seen that young and the expected special nature due to it being his own was conspicuously absent. He had soothed it's desperate wails, rocking it back and forth gently and watched it fall asleep, but he had felt no magical connection to the child, no special love towards the sleeping baby. All he had felt was the weight of it in his arms.

It was an event that didn't occur until two days after Silver was born.

Although he had never felt guilty about the fact that he hadn't held his son during those two days, he'd had the death of his beloved wife to deal with after all, in hindsight he did find it oddly indicative of their relationship. Silver was not and had never been first in his life. That fact was something he did feel some guilt over, however minor it was.

It was simply that there was always more pressing manners. There was always something that needed to be done _then_, Silver could always wait until a more opportune timeand there was there was always a grunt he could drop the boy off with to be seen to.

He had missed Silver's first word.

According to the stuttering pink haired girl who had been overseeing Silver at the time, the word had been_ 'Dada'._ Not unsurprising, it was a common first word. Although Petrel appeared to have been trying to get the baby to learn his own name first off, many of his other employees had been trying to encourage the child to say dada, or some variation of it.

Giovanni didn't regret missing Silver's first word. It was only a word after all, and there had been an important meeting on supply usage that he had urgently needed to give. Besides, he had reminded himself, he could always hear Silver speak it later.

* * *

><p>Proton had never much cared for the brat.<p>

He had always made it clear that he wasn't a child person, let alone a baby one. If he had to be around anyone he much preferred adults, at least when he made them cry he actually felt satisfied. He hated children and they could sense it, even if that was all their pathetic, underdeveloped senses could pick up, becoming more petulant the longer they were around him. When he brought his wrath down upon them for it he either grievously injured them or did nothing but make them cry louder, neither of which turned out to be acceptable.

None of that, however, appeared to be enough to prevent him from having to take care of the the boss' spawn.

While others seemed to find the little boy 'cute', as he had heard a pair of idiot grunts coo, he couldn't see it no matter how hard he tried. It was just another whiny, useless baby, only special in any manner because he was the boss'. Proton was never in the mood to deal with the boy's gurgling words, most of them completely unintelligible, or his seemingly constant running nose, or the way that he begged for food no matter what Proton was eating.

The child teetered on his feet, latching onto the table and using it as leverage as he stumbled towards Proton, his cornflower blue eyes wide and intent on Proton's meal.

The Team Rocket Admin held up his plate out of reach and glared down at the kid, who ignored it and reached up with hands sticky from his own saliva, a plaintive look on his face as he whined loudly. Proton couldn't quite tell if he was really crying, but he didn't doubt that if he was then they were just crocodile tears. Either way it was like listening to a hundred nails sliding down a chalkboard. Oh, how _adorable_ that was.

Why, _why_, had they left him with the kid? Just because one of the grunts had been stupid enough to let him eat one of his toys didn't mean Proton should be saddled with him. And, really, did they not realize that Proton was just as likely to ram one of the toys down his stupid, tiny throat just to get him to stop whining?

"Listen here, brat!" He hissed the words as Silver wiped his spit and snot, and probably worse, soaked hands on Proton's pant leg, leaving a disgusting mark. At least the incessant crying stopped once he spoke. "Slowpokes tails are _expensive_ and I'm sure as hell not giving any to you! You get to eat mush because you're a baby and I get this because I woke puke it up ten seconds later. Do you understand me you little _shit_?"

Of course Silver wouldn't understand. The boy wasn't even two.

He did however grab at Proton's pants a little more desperately. "Shit!" The baby burbled out some version of the word, only barely intelligible, but still more than understandable enough to seal his doom. "Shit!"

Proton groaned in exasperation and horror, realizing he had just taught the boss' bouncing baby boy his first swear word.

Giovanni was going to _kill_ him.

* * *

><p>Giovanni didn't know exactly when Silver's hair had started to go from a wispy blond to a coppery red, or when his eyes began dulling from the brilliant blue they were when he was born to a pale grey colour, more akin to his name.<p>

But he did know that it was a process many children went through, nothing overly special. The changes themselves had happened gradually; just as one did not notice a pokemon grow taller until it towered, he had not noticed such small things in his son. It was not that his absences were leaving large blank spots where Silver changed without him even knowing.

He wouldn't look back on those thoughts and wonder just how they had shaped his broken relationship with Silver for years. He wouldn't consider that perhaps changing those thoughts could have changed more than just how much he remembered.

And yet, even when he did look back on it, he never did regret his thought processes. He had done what he had needed to at that time. Organizing himself, his group, gaining the title of a Gym leader, it had taken precedence over the trivial dulling of a baby's eyes. Just like it should have.

"You wouldn't let the grunts dye your hair would you, bud?" Petrel grinned at the little boy as he sat cross legged on the floor to diminish the height difference between them. He loved when he got assigned to take care Silver, the kid was just so tiny and adorable. He had a large, toothy grin and the cutest red mop of hair on his head, with big grey eyes. Petrel could have pinched his chubby little cheeks all day if it didn't make him irritable.

Silver shook his head to answer the question, his ridiculously red hair flying everywhere. "No way! I don't need to do _anything_ the grunts say! They're weak!" Silver was playing with their hands, his tiny fingers barely even able to reach the spaces between Petrel's larger ones, as he moved their hands up and down. "I only have to listen to strong people like you guys and Daddy!"

"You got that right!" Petrel chuckled, comforted that one of the grunts hadn't decided to play a trick on Silver and dye his hair, which seemed even redder today than usual. He knew the grunts didn't particularly like looking after Silver, he wouldn't have been surprised if they tried to pull a prank on him. They weren't entirely without reason, though: Silver could be a nightmare when he wanted to be, especially after he had realized that he was above grunts on Giovanni's disciplinary scale. But Petrel still liked Silver, who could also be as sweet as sugar if he decided he liked a person. "Speaking of being strong, can you recite the _whole_ alphabet for me?"

Silver nodded fervently, looking excited to share his knowledge with someone else. "Yeah!"

Petrel listened to him singing, a little shrill and a little off pitch, laughing and correcting him when he got n and m mixed up.

* * *

><p>The decision to home school Silver had been an easy one. They boy had a mouth on him that sometimes surprised even Giovanni, and he was always quick to question just where had Silver learned <em>that<em> word. Putting Silver, with his unorthodox upbringing, out into a school environment would only encourage questions, questions that Giovanni didn't have the time, or the desire, to be bothered with.

There were also other questions, the kind that he couldn't afford to have Silver answering. The child had grown up surrounded by Giovanni's greatest and most terrible secret, if he even let out a hint of Team Rocket because of some innocuous questions asked by a classmate or teacher then everything could be ruined.

He knew he wouldn't be able to take control over all of Silver's schooling, but he had resolved to give some of the lessons to Silver himself, if just so that he could ensure his son was being taught properly. Yet he found that he rarely had the time and when he did he was often exhausted and in no temperament to be teaching basic reading or arithmetic. Thus, like so many other things, the responsibility was passed down to an unwilling grunt.

He did manage to give Silver a few of his lessons, and he regularly looked over his son's work, watched as his writing and math improved. But somehow it never felt like enough.

Possibly because it wasn't.

But he had been bogged down with so many things and he couldn't regret not managing as many of Silver's lessons as he could have. Running a gym and Team Rocket simultaneously was no easy task, and most parents weren't expected to teach these things to their children in any case.

* * *

><p>"I need more lotion."<p>

Ariana didn't bother looking up from her novel, already knowing what she would see; a child with unsightly red blotches covering his face, arms, torso, trying to look as pathetic as he could. Well, his eevee eyes weren't going to work on her. She understood that chicken pox were enough to make any small child irritated, but he was being a little too uppity about it for her tastes. He should have been grateful, when she was a child she certainly hadn't had access to such a supply of camomile lotion, or anyone kind enough to order someone to take time out of their busy day and take care of her.

"You don't need any more." She turned the page, although she had neglected to read the last sentence, and glanced up at young boy. "You just put some on."

Silver's eyes narrowed, his blemished face going sour and for a moment she wondered for a moment if she was going to witness one of his infamous temper tantrums. He had never preformed one in front of an admin, and if he did he was about to learn just why he shouldn't. But after a moment of glaring he seemed to think better of it and looked down at his blotchy arm, wearing a pained expression instead. "But it's _really_ itchy."

"Ignore it." He could complain all he wanted, she had gone through the exact same thing as a child, and she had managed to get through it with a minimal amount a whining, he could too.

"But I _can't!_"

Ariana looked back down at her book, ignoring Silver's whine. "You can. You just aren't trying hard enough." She continued before Silver could chime in with another complaint. "Do you think your Father would let himself be brought down by something like this because it _itches_?"

There was a long pause before she heard Silver's dejected voice mutter out a sad, "No."

"Then ignore it."

A silence descended over the room following her words, and Ariana was thankful for it. She had never hated Silver the way many of the others seemed to and she was perfectly fine with that. Not to say that she liked him, or wanted to like him, merely that she preferred that not have anything against the boss' son. It made things, like being asked last minute to look after the sick boy for a night and make sure he didn't permanently scar himself, bearable. Proton had nearly frothed at the mouth when Giovanni had asked him, which didn't make the best impression.

Most of the time Silver wasn't a bother to her in any case. He was only a small presence that sometimes infiltrated their meetings, sitting quietly by his father's side, or something that she heard Giovanni chew a grunt out over. Occasionally she might even hear a few unfounded rumours about their matching hair colours. As though Giovanni would be that unprofessional.

"Where's Dad?" Her thoughts were interrupted when Silver spoke quietly.

"Busy." She smiled at the child mirthlessly over at the child, hoping such an answer would satisfy him, but already doubting it. "He in the middle of something very important."

"Oh." The boy's face fell as though he were faced with a tragedy. He reached for his arm, clearly about to scratch but his hand fell away when she glared at him. After a moment more he spoke again. "What?"

"Pardon me?" She raised a thin eyebrow at his curt tone.

"What is Dad doing?" Silver looked at the door and then back at her, as though he expected Giovanni to burst in at any moment. "Why is it important?" He paused at her still raised eyebrow and added a quiet "Miss. Ariana."

Better. It was good to see he remembered his manners at least some of the time. "Your father is organizing something very important, it's for the good of all of Team Rocket and it must be done." She could hardly explain to the kid about their top secret plans. Even if he didn't understand, which he wouldn't, he still had a big mouth, chances were he would let the information leak somewhere it shouldn't. "I'm sure you can understand how important these things are."

Silver looked away again, falling silent. That was fine, if he knew when to leave it be then she wasn't going to complain. But then he spoke again, his voice small. "When will he be done?"

"Not for a long time."

"How long?"

Ariana wondered if the scale of indifference was going to tip over to dislike. She wasn't really the motherly type. "Not until long past your bedtime."

"Oh." She saw Silver fidget a bit. But before she could go back to ignoring him he threw back the covers on his bed, revealing spotted pale legs and a pair of plain black shorts, and started to climb out of bed. "I'm getting more lotion." Before she could remind him that he had enough he was already running over to the bottle and squeezing it out into his hands.

Proton was right, the kid was a brat.

* * *

><p>There was a point in time when every time that Giovanni saw Silver he was a little different. It wasn't something Giovanni took a great amount of notice in, he didn't need to bother. When Silver stopped growing then he could know what his son looked like but until then memorizing Silver's appearance would be a fruitless endeavour. And that point in time was when it had all begun to unravel in hands, he had been engaged with more important matters.<p>

Yet the little differences did stick out on the occasions that he saw his son. Silver's hair, somehow, got redder. And longer, it was always getting longer. How long, he would wonder every time, had it been since it was cut? He would attempt to make a mental note to tell someone to give him a haircut, but would inevitably forget. Silver developed freckles in new places, he got a little taller, became a little more sullen.

He started calling Giovanni 'Father' sometime around then. He hadn't questioned it, father was an acceptable term after all. Although, in truth, he had barely even noticed.

Then again, he hadn't taken notice of much until Silver's attitude took a sharp turn downhill.

Even then the notice he'd taken, he realized in retrospect, might not have been the right kind. But how could one know? No, he couldn't regret the decisions he had made, he had done the best he could.

* * *

><p>"One day you will be the head of Team Rocket." Archer looked over at the boy, who was lying sprawled out on one of the black couches in their headquarters, playing with the mock pokeball toy in his hands.<p>

Of late Silver had been causing some problems that required a higher up to look after him when they could manage it. Even still he rarely ever listened, he hardly even listened to the boss himself, but leaving him in the care of grunts, who would actually listen to his anger driven demands, turned out to be nothing short of disastrous.

However Archer, in what he knew was a change from most of Team Rocket, didn't mind paying his dues and looking after Giovanni's son while the boss was busy taking care of this whole 'Red' business, no matter how defiant and sullen Silver could be.

Silver didn't look at him, he just kept looking up at the white ceiling. There was a frown clear on his face as he tossed the ball up and caught it absently. "Is that even true?"

Archer leaned back into his chair and nodded, although he knew Silver wouldn't see it. "Of course it is." And it was. Silver was, after all, Team Rocket's hope for immortality. Giovanni had showed little interest in women after the untimely death of his wife during childbirth, they all doubted there would be any other heirs to the Team Rocket throne. And, Archer knew, Silver had grown up steeped in their world. He would be almost as perfect as Giovanni was for the job when he grew older. No one else but Giovanni could truly lead Team Rocket to glory and no one else but Silver could carry on their reign. "So you'll need to become just as strong as the boss is."

Silver tossed the ball up with more vigour, sending it higher before catching it in his hands. "So I'll need to yell at everyone like I'm special and spend all my time never getting anything done."

Archer winced at the description. He understood that in Silver's position that might have been all he saw but Archer knew better, had stood beside Giovanni and seen the full extent of his work. "He does much more than that, you know."

Silver's barking laugh was cruel as he chucked the ball, managing to hit the ceiling this time before it fell back into his hands."Oh right, I'll remember to hire a bunch of weaklings and be unable to control them. Got it."

Archer looked over Silver, not entirely sure how to proceed. He shouldn't really tolerate bad mouthing of the boss, but he could hardly discipline the boy like he could others. He paused for a moment before speaking, "Silver, have you ever seen your Father battle?"

"Yeah."

"And what did you think?"

Silver was silent and Archer was willing to let the subject drop. He didn't want to push anything, not at this point. Dealing with the boy's sour attitude towards the organization was Giovanni's job until he stated otherwise. But a few moments later Silver spoke anyways, clutching the toy tight in his hands and turning his head to look at Archer with a face that was a little too melancholy for his young age. "Do you really think I could take over Team Rocket someday?"

"Absolutely." Archer knew that Silver would detect no doubt in his voice because there was none in his mind that he spoke the truth.

* * *

><p>Giovanni sighed in defeat, the sound inaudible over the rushing of the waterfall, and replaced his hat onto his head. He walked forwards, ignoring the now familiar spray of water covering him and the wetness of the puddles under his shoes. His pokemon turned to look at him curiously, but he simply pulled their pokeballs out of his pocket and called them back, not knowing how to explain something like this to them.<p>

He wouldn't get much training done today and he knew it.

He had been fine until he had realized belatedly, always belatedly, that what day it was. Not that he had marked it, or tried to remember it, but he had just been about to set up the rocks for his Nidoqueen to smash when it had hit him. And then he had needed to do the mental math; if that was when Silver was born, and today was his birthday, how old would he be now? How many birthdays would Giovanni have missed?

And then other questions, though unbidden and unwanted, had plagued him. How much would Silver have grown? How tall would he be, how many freckles would he have gathered? Had he ever cut that ridiculous hair? Did he have a pokemon, was he trying to be a trainer? He would be about that age now, wouldn't he? What pokemon would it be? Where was he living? No doubt the house would have been repossessed long ago. How had he made his way?

Did he still hate his father?

"_I'll never be like you!"_

Giovanni moved to climb down the rocks, already decided; he would go an gather supplies today. He could put his pokemon and himself in danger by not paying attention in battle. However, it would be relatively safe to reminisce and question if he was only gathering supplies from outside of the cave.

If just for today, he could let himself wonder if he really had no regrets about the things he had done.

* * *

><p>"...and then the three legendary birds all flew far away," Giovanni spoke the words quietly, well aware that Silver wasn't awake anymore. "And they live in peace, awaiting the day they are to be caught by a strong enough trainer or organization, even still."<p>

It hadn't been easy to work at getting the whole day off, things were always so hectic with either the gym or the organization, but it wasn't everyday a person's only son turned five, and he hadn't seen Silver in such a long time, so he had scraped the time out somehow.

He closed the book, setting it off to the nightstand beside Silver's bed, but he didn't make a move to get up. Silver was sprawled out across his lap, fast asleep and only half covered in his bedspread, tiny hands splayed out on the sheets.

He had forgotten how small Silver was.

Giovanni didn't get a lot of time to look over his son, so he took advantage of the rare opportunity. Silver was so peaceful asleep, so young and yet so much older in comparison to when Giovanni had first held him. He had definition, personality: he was no longer just a generic crying baby, he was Silver.

He had his mother's nose, Giovanni realized as he looked over the boy. Long and narrow. He definitely had his Grandmother's hair too, no one couldn't recognize a colour like that, but the straightness, that he had gotten from his father.

Giovanni let himself smile just a little at the soft rumbling sound that filled the room. He hadn't known that Silver snored. He hadn't known a lot of things.

The Team Rocket leader leaned down, pushing back soft red strands of hair, so small in comparison to his hand, to press a gentle kiss to the boy's forehead, before moving back and leaning against the wall, not even bothering to turn of the lamp before closing his eyes.

And that was how a panicked grunt found him the next morning: the lamp still on, Silver sprawled out on his lap, as he leaned against the wall, a large hand resting on his son's back and using the other to put a finger in front of his lips.

* * *

><p>AND THEN SILVER GREW UP, PUNCHED GIOVANNI IN THE FACE AND MARRIED GOLD.<p>

THE END.


End file.
